Tag: decision making

This piece was inspired by an article in Brain Pickings by Maria Popova
L.A. Paul (Philosopher):
If you were offered the chance to become a vampire — painlessly and without inflicting pain on others, gaining incredible superpowers in exchange for relinquishing your human existence, with all your friends having made the leap and loving it — would you do it?

Photo credits: Dieter_G, Pixabay

The decision to become a vampire, or not, has to be one of the most epistemic situations to find yourself in. For starters, you know very little about your possible future as a vampire. Running parallel to that, you are limited when you face a possible future as a vampire. If you want to make the decision by thinking about what your lived experience would be like if you decided to undergo the experience, then my friend — you have a problem…

If at this very moment you’re wrecking your mind wondering about giving it a trial run, know this — you cannot do it rationally. And I will say what I already know that you know: a trial on vampirey? Such a thing is ridiculous!

For sure, you can’t do it by weighing in on all the competing options concerning what it would be like and choosing on this basis. And wouldn’t it seem unreliable and biased to rely solely on the testimony of your vampire friends to help you reach an informed decision? After all, those vampire friends of yours aren’t human like you anymore. As such, their preferences are the ones vampires have — not the ones humans have.

The trouble in this situation is:
how could you possibly make an informed decision? Look, you cannot know what it is like to be a vampire until you are one.

And if you cannot know what it’s like to be a vampire without becoming one, you cannot compare the character of the lived experience of what it’s like to be a mere human right now, to the character of the lived experience of what it would be like to be a vampire.

This is an apt analogy for most, if not all, of our most important life decisions.

Choices
Big choices all around. To do or not to do…everyday. What is your gauge for the options you consider giving your precious time to? Whoever said that you could have it all wasn’t being completely honest with you. All decision involve making choices on one life or the other.

Temptation is everywhere.

Just once: try this drug; commit this unlawful act just for the thrill; give in to this or that; you only live once, so live — just once! Foolhardy words. Can you please tell me that you recognize the trap and that you can tell where it’s leading. Giving in to such temptations turns you into vampires.

We live everyday, we only die once. I’m sure you’ve heard this quote before; someone insightful said it. Our hearts beat every second we’re alive, why would you choose to exchange one second of your life for something other than living with purpose?

This is not meant to be preachy;
preachy doesn’t teach. Experiences teach. What I mean to do here is to remind you that it’s important to seek out experiences that help us to grow and that teach us things about how to be the best humans we can be. As a human, the sky is the limit. It will sound contradictory, but as humans tapping into the frequency of the universe from an authentic human standpoint where harmony and generosity flourish, yes, we can have it all. But, sorry to say, you will have to leave your vampire aspirations behind.

Go on, immerse yourself in the experiences you’re dreaming about but please be selective about the experiences you wish to have. Become a vampire if that’s what you want, but know that you will have to give up being human to become one. That is the only way!

And at the risk of sounding redundant,
let me just end this by saying that the only way to have experiences that teach us things we cannot know about from any other source is by going in and immersing into the experience itself. Selection is key. Become a vampire if that’s what you want to do, but know that you will need to relinquish your human existence. That is the only way!

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I love the written word; bubbling with the desire to tell stories. Journey with me to hear about the Intricacies and Follies of the people in my head. I will give the town they live in the fictional name of G.G. Marquez' Macondo. I appreciate the ordinary things in life. I love reading, laughing, gardening and learning new things.